1. Bhaang Ragad Ke – Singers: Vikas Kumar, Vipin Patwa; Lyrics: Mange Ram Koch (Traditional) – A typical Haryanvi track to which Vikas sets the mood so brilliantly with his well-suited vocals that Vipin has justified with his choice. The composition is superb, going well with the lyrics, experimenting a bit and not letting it get over-cooked. Well-delivered.

2. Bawli Booch – Singer: Vikas Kumar; Music: Mathias Duplessy; Lyrics: Dushyant Kumar – Vikas surpasses his own performance in this edgy fun track which has excellent chorus setup with a lovely catchy tune by Mathias. Lyrics are written wittingly, making it more ear-catching. Arrangements have been brilliant throughout. Commendable entertainment.

4. Aye Khuda – Singers: Mukhtiyar Ali, Sameer Khan; Music: Mathias Duplessy; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – This is typical Mathias whom we had witnessed in Finding Fanny. Again with Mukhtiyar, he builds up a great team and delivers what he is best known for. His compositions are experimental yet melodious and catchy. Melodiously entertaining. #WelcomeSong

5. Laali – Singer: Sameer Khan; Music: Mathias Duplessy; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Sameer is fantastic with his heavy vocals fitting well with the composition. The composition is dark yet soothing; great work with Violin, and a likable setup of orchestration. Kausar Munir is excellent in sticking to a word and make a whole song out of it. She does that with ease. Weirdly melodious.

6. Kharch Karod / Kharch Karod (Slow) – Singer: Vikas Kumar; Music: Vipin Patwa; Lyrics: Vikas Kumar – This song comes as a sheer disappointment from Vipin. The composition is so monotonous and in such a chord that makes it hugely unappealing.

1. Awargi – Singers: Sangeet Haldipur, Rasika Shekhar; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – An unconventional romantic track from the Bhatt perspective, this song builds up the mood as it goes into the second stanza. Sangeet’s vocals sound very apt for this mood. The duo hasn’t used typical digital beats and tried to keep it rather less cliched. Kausar’s lyrics is quite ordinary. Not so typical.

2. Love Games – Singer: Aanchal Shrivastava; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Like the previous one, this song too builds up the mood till it reaches the second stanza. Aanchal has done an extremely impressive job. The arrangements are top notch though the tune doesn’t deserve too much praise. Excellent arrangements.

3. Mohabbat – Singer: Sangeet Haldipur; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Oh you never hear such peaceful acoustic melodies in Vikram Bhatt movies. Haldipur bothers have gone acoustic in this breezy romantic song having Kausar describing about love quite nicely. Sangeet proves here to be a singer who should sing more often. Cheerily Brisk.

4. Nirvana – Singer: Mohan Kannan; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Mohan Kannan does his job excellently as he always does. It’s quite a philosophically written song which has a really likable catchy hook line that you might keep crooning it for long. Vibrant! #WelcomeSong

5. Aye Dil – Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – There can be nobody who won’t recall the song Aa Zara (Murder 2) after listening to this, more because of Sunidhi. If we compare, Aa Zara definitely stands out, being the first song of the duo because the composition is weak here. Arrangements though undoubtedly are worth praising. Back to the days of Aa Zara.

6. Lock Him Up – Singer – Sonia Saigal (Feat. Sitarist Pt. Ravindra Chary); Lyrics: Vikram Bhatt – Quite smoothly they have infused hard rock with Sitar upon which Sonia Saigal with her vocals quite perfectly justifies her presence. It’s more of a theme track that doesn’t need to be heard unless you are a music geek. The composers have done some impressive work here with sheer brilliance. Intelligent theme track.

7. Poison – Singer: Shon Pinto; Lyrics: Vikram Bhatt – They have tried Heavy Metal here which Shon Pinto has justified completely. The song is a theme track, not to be meant for everybody. Decent.

Haldipur brothers have come up with something different in music than what Vikram Bhatt films usually provide.

Not even a month has passed after Bajrangi Bhaijaan hit the theaters, and Kabir Khan and Pritam are back yet again with Phantom. The former had lots of commercial stuffs, but the latter is an experimentally classy album with just three songs.

1. Afghan Jalebi (Ya Baba) / Afghan Jalebi (Film Version) / Ya Baba (Fitna Farebi) / Afghan Jalebi (Dumbek Version) – Singer: Asrar (Syed Asrar Shah) / Akhtar Channal / Nakash Aziz / Akhtar Channal; Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya – So there are four versions of a single song which are not too different from one another except some minor arrangements. This is surely one of the most addictive songs of this year. The line afghan jalebi is brilliantly catchy and the way the singer Akhtar and Asrar have sung it, makes it even more addictive. Amitabh’s lyrics is just outstanding, perfectly suiting to the mood of the song. Pritam has created a pure Afghani track primarily using Harmonium and the rest is done through percussion. The techno sound with which it begins, is highly compelling. The first version is devoid of the digital beats, the second is the most enjoyable one for every kind of listener, the third version is weakest among all and the fourth one is a weirdly impressive experiment. A likable classy track for mass. Outstandingly catchy!

2. Saware – Singer: Arijit Singh; Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya – It’s a heartwarming melody, breezy, catchy and sophisticated enough to be liked by the class. Arijit is the real power behind its beauty besides the tune. His vocal texture suits fabulously to this track. The Guitar work before the ending lines is terrific and so is Arijit’s style in the ending notes. Amitabh’s lyrics is philosophically beautiful with almost all the lines worth noticing. My favorite lines are dhalti raat ka ek musaafir, subah alvida keh chala, jeete jee tera ho saka na, marke haq adaa kar chala. An extremely impressive composition and writing.

3. Nachda – Singer: Shahid Mallya; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Another song with Arabic arrangements but this time a little brooding yet captivating, this song is superbly sung by Shahid Mallya with two antaras having entirely different notes, soulfully owing the whole atmosphere. This is not regular Pritam as he experimented Arabic instruments on Rock background with a hard-hitting tune. This is something you don’t often get to hear and definitely not from Pritam’s baggage! Grab it!

After fulfilling all the commercial needs in Bajrani Bhaijaan, Pritam delivers a brilliant classy album!

Like this:

Kabir Khan is back with Salman Khan again after Ek Tha Tiger and Pritam is back with Kabir Khan again after New York. So, the trio is into the scene for the very first time. As it has Salman Khan so you expect the sundtrack to be out and out commercial. Although it is, most of the songs are able to maintain the class too.

1. Selfie Le Le Re – Singers: Vishal Dadlani, Nakash Aziz, Pritam; Rap: Badshah; Lyrics: Mayur Puri – The techno sound with which it begins, is a delight to hear. The tune is obviously catchy though very ordinary, something which we hear in 90s desi tracks. Arrangements are also surprisingly poor which is a very unexpected element in Pritam’s music. The saving grace is Vishal Dadlani. The effortless singing he has done, made the track sound special. His vocals gave this 90s sounding track a modern flavor. Mayur Puri’s lyrics are just a game of rhymes without yielding much sense. A decent desi track not of the Pritam-standard.

2. Tu Chahiye – Singer: Atif Aslam; Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya – It begins with a Pritam-ish Guitar riff, that you instantly fall in love with. The tune has that recognizable sweetness which you must have heard in many of the romantic tracks of Pritam. What amazes the most in this song is the Sarangi played in the interlude along with the heavy beats already going in the background. The antara makes you remember the similarity it has with the song Kyon from Barfi! The sudden old world charm in this extremely techno fused modern romantic track is a good surprising element. Lovable!

3. Bhar Do Jholi Meri / Bhar Do Jholi Meri (Reprise) – Singer: Adnan Sami, Imran Aziz Mian; Music: Traditional (Recreated by Pritam); Lyrics:Traditional (Recreated by Kausar Munir) – You don’t often expect a qawwali in a Salman Khan film so its presence is a surprise itself. Another astonishing fact is the bringing of Adnan Sami on board. Surprisingly, being a pop singer, he managed the song superbly. All the typical Qawwali instruments are used with a very cliche arrangements, ignoring all the experiments that could have been done. The composer has used the traditional qawwali famously rendered by Sabri Brothers. The antara has been changed to some extent but the rest has been kept safe. The Adnan Sami version sounds more filmy, hence more appealing, but for a true qawwali fan, the latter would be more appealing. A decent recreation.

4. Aaj Ki Party – Singer: Mika Singh; Lyrics: Shabbir Ahmed – Here comes the typical Salman Khan film song with a very ordinary tune, below average lyrics and monotonous beats in the name of arrangements. Since it’s Pritam, it is atleast enjoyable if not creatively good. That dum-dum-dukud-dukud is enough creative stuff for a song like this. Mika is an obvious choice for these kind of tracks though it has now started sounding boring to hear his voice in every desi party track. A pure commercial stuff.

5. Chicken Kuk-Doo-Koo – Singers: Mohit Chauhan, Palak Muchhal; Lyrics: Mayur Puri – It’s a situational song brilliantly written by Mayur Puri, showing a Hanuman devotee trying to make a Muslim girl happy by serving her Chicken. His writing instantly drives your attention towards the song when you hear lines like thodi biryani bukhaari, thodi fir nalli nihaari, le aao aaj dharam bhrasht ho jaaye. It’s a children song sweetly giving the message of secularism. Pritam has infused funny sounds of Chicken and given the Goanese flavor to the rhythm. Mohit Chauhan has handled the song with much ease, giving apt emphasis on the words that require. Something different yet catchy!

6. Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata / Zindagi Kuch Toh Bata (Reprise) – Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rekha Bhardwaj / Jubin Nautiyal; Lyrics: Neelesh Mishra – Did that sound similar? Yes, the second line of mukhda is very much similar to the notes of another Pritam track Good Night from Ferrari Ki Sawaari. Even if that’s repeated, it is such an endearing tune that you yet again fall in love with it. Both the versions are equally good though the original has Rekha along with Rahat which makes it more harmonious. Rekha’s portion is composed with utter subtlety which forces you to give attention to it. Jubin has too done a good job with his Reprise version. Neelesh Mishra’s lyrics about life are equally beautiful. It’s all about that endearing Mukhda. #WelcomeSong

7. Tu Jo Mila / Tu Jo Mila (Dekhna Na Mudke) / Tu Jo Mila (Reprise) – Singer: K.K. / Javed Ali / Papon; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – Another melodious treat in this album comes in three different versions with three great singers, the one by K.K. being the best as the kind of song it is, seems to have been made just for K.K.’s vocals. The tune makes you remember Pritam’s days of Tum Mile where his melodies were as simple and catchy as it could be. The use of Sitar is an element to notice in this song. Javed Ali too mesmerizes us and Papon does no different in his version which is more melancholic. Still, K.K. wins as the song comes under his comfort zone. A delightful trademark Pritam stuff!

Inspite of being a Salman Khan film album, Pritam manages to retain his class.

ISHQEDARRIYAAN is a story about love, sacrifice, family values and relationships. Rishteydarriyaan means relationships and Ishqedarriyaan signifies the relationship when you fall in love! It is directed by V. K. Prakash and produced by Rajesh Banga. The music has been given by Jaidev Kumar, Jeet Gannguli and Bilal Saeed.

1. Ishqedarriyaan – Singer: Ankit Tiwari; Music: Jeet Gannguli; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – An extremely ordinary composition with the soft-rock background that has nothing to boast about. Ankit too fails to charm with his singing and Kausar’s lyrics seem to have not much effort being spent in it. Things could have been better.

2. Das Dae – Singer: Mohit Chauhan; Music: Jaidev Kumar; Lyrics: Kumaar – Punjabi lyrics suit Mohit Chauhan’s voice very much and that is the primary for the song to be likable. The composition, although having very ordinary arrangements and regular programming with digital beats, sounds soothing and hence one can have a pleasurable time hearing this melody. Pretty good and likable.

3. Mohabbat Yeh – Singer: Bilal Saeed; Music: Bilal Saeed; Lyrics: Bilal Saeed – What one can expect from Bilal Saeed it’s all there in the song. Regular digital beats, over-programmed vocals, and the most typical lyrics on love possible. Hence, it is just for those who like listening to romantic tracks even if they lack novelty. Decent yet boring!

4. Judaa – Singer: Arijit Singh; Music: Jaidev Kumar; Lyrics: Kumaar – Another lovely composition by Jaidev with nice arrangements full of Piano and Violin supporting at appropriate places. The way it all gets calm when the antara arrives is a beautiful thing to be noticed. The song is beautifully rendered by Arijit, particularly the upper notes. A lovable composition. #WelcomeSong

5. Georgia Sae Jalandhar – Singer: Master Saleem; Music: Jeet Gannguli; Lyrics: Manoj Muntashir – Thankfully of very short duration, this song must be apt on screen, as it impresses or attracts neither with singing, composition, lyrics or arrangements. Let it go!

All the effort in vain except the two impressive melodies by Jaidev Kumar.

The film is a political satire about two Indians who land in Karachi, without their passports. No sooner do they get trapped in the web of the Taliban and try to find a way to get back to India. The film is directed by Ashish R Mohan and produced by Vashu Bhagnani and Uzair Junejo. The album consists of four songs, two by Rochak Kohli and one each by Jeet Gannguli and Amjad-Nadeem.

1. Lalla Lalla Lori – Singers: Vishal Dadlani, Shivi; Music: Rochak Kohli; Lyrics: Rochak Kohli – Another alcohol-obsessed song which hardly implies any meaning in any of the lines. Rochak Kohli has been consistently good till now and this must be his worst composition and lyrics (why did he even try writing it?). Vishal Dadlani’s vocals have either been programmed so badly or they are infected because he is not being able to be recognized. Shivi has got few lines which do not hold much importance to the song. Ridiculously written!

3. Shakira – Singer: Shalmali Kholgade; Music: Jeet Gannguli; Lyrics: Kausar Munir – It would have been good if Jeet Gannguli had got a slow track. Unfortunately gets an item song that thankfully not being written cheaply, with decent words and phrases. Composition could have been much better considering the level of Jeet Gannguli, still Shalmali’s vocals helped in making it sound a decent attempt. Not cheap though very ordinary.